Tasuku Igarashi

Gender differences in social network development via mobile phone text messages: A longitudinal study

We examined the development of face-to-face (FTF) social networks and mobile/cell phone text message (MPTM)-mediated social networks, and gender differences in the social network structure of 64 male and 68 female first-year undergraduate students. Social network analysis showed that MPTM social networks consisted of dyadic relationships, and its growth was slower than FTF social networks. The intimacy of friends who communicate via both FTF and MPTM was rated higher than those who communicate only via FTF. The structure of MPTM social networks coincided with known gender differences in network characteristics. Females tended to expand their MPTM social networks more than males. These findings suggest that patterns of interpersonal relationships for MPTM social networks corresponded to Matsuda’s (2000) selective interpersonal relationship theory.

No mobile, no life

A survey was conducted to investigate how self-perception of text-message dependency leads to psychological/behavioral symptoms in relation to personality factors. Japanese high school students completed a self-report questionnaire measuring frequency of text-messages, self-perception of text-message dependency, psychological/behavioral symptoms, extroversion and neuroticism. Self-perception of text-message dependency was composed of three factors: perception of excessive use, emotional reaction, and relationship maintenance. Although message frequency was significantly related to psychological/behavioral symptoms, this effect was qualified by self-perception and personality factors. In particular, self-perception of text-message dependency strongly affected psychological/behavioral symptoms. Importance of distinction between extroverted and neurotic text-message dependency through the process of self-perception of maladaptive behavior is discussed.

Cross-Cultural Validation of Fear of Happiness Scale Across 14 National Groups

A survey of the cultural notions related to happiness and the existing empirical evidence indicate that some individuals endorse the belief that happiness, particularly an immoderate degree of it, should be avoided. These beliefs mainly involve the general notion that happiness may lead to bad things happening. Using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel modeling, this study investigates the measurement invariance, cross-level isomorphism, predictive validity, and nomological network of the fear of happiness scale across 14 nations. The results show that this scale has good statistical properties at both individual and cultural levels. The findings also indicate that this scale has the potential to add to the knowledge about how people conceive of, and experience, happiness across cultures.

Improving Medical Decision Making and Health Promotion through Culture-Sensitive Health Communication An Agenda for Science and Practice

This review introduces the concept of culture-sensitive health communication. The basic premise is that congruency between the recipient’s cultural characteristics and the respective message will increase the communication’s effectiveness. Culture-sensitive health communication is therefore defined as the deliberate and evidence-informed adaptation of health communication to the recipients’ cultural background in order to increase knowledge and improve decision preparedness in medical decision making, and to enhance the persuasiveness of messages in health promotion. To achieve effective health communication in varying cultural contexts, an empirically and theoretically based understanding of culture will be indispensable. We therefore define culture, discuss which evolutionary and structural factors contribute to the development of cultural diversity, and how differences are conceptualized as scientific constructs in current models of cultural differences. Additionally, we will explicate the implications of cultural differences for psychological theorizing, because common constructs of health behavior theories and decision making, such as attitudes or risk perception, are subject to cultural variation. In terms of communication we will review both communication strategies as well as channels that are used to disseminate health messages, and discuss the implications of cultural differences for their effectiveness. Finally, we propose both an agenda for science as well as for practice to advance and apply the evidence base for culture-sensitive health communication. This calls for more interdisciplinary research: between science and practice, but also between scientific disciplines and between basic and applied research.This review introduces the concept of culture-sensitive health communication. The basic premise is that congruency between the recipient’s cultural characteristics and the respective message will increase the communication’s effectiveness. Culture-sensitive health communication is therefore defined as the deliberate and evidence-informed adaptation of health communication to the recipients’ cultural background in order to increase knowledge and improve preparation for medical decision making and to enhance the persuasiveness of messages in health promotion. To achieve effective health communication in varying cultural contexts, an empirically and theoretically based understanding of culture will be indispensable. We therefore define culture, discuss which evolutionary and structural factors contribute to the development of cultural diversity, and examine how differences are conceptualized as scientific constructs in current models of cultural differences. In addition, we will explicate the implications of cultural differences for psychological theorizing, because common constructs of health behavior theories and decision making, such as attitudes or risk perception, are subject to cultural variation. In terms of communication, we will review both communication strategies and channels that are used to disseminate health messages, and we will discuss the implications of cultural differences for their effectiveness. Finally, we propose an agenda both for science and for practice to advance and apply the evidence base for culture-sensitive health communication. This calls for more interdisciplinary research between science and practice but also between scientific disciplines and between basic and applied research.

“Paying it forward” via satisfying a basic human need: The need for relatedness satisfaction mediates gratitude and prosocial behavior

People who receive kindness tend to feel gratitude and act in a prosocial manner toward third persons (i.e., “paying it forward”). Combining the separate evidence that (a) gratitude leads to the formation of strong psychological bonds from a beneficiary to a benefactor and that (b) people become more prosocial toward strangers when the need for relatedness (NFR) is satisfied, two online experiments were conducted to examine if NFR satisfaction mediates the association between gratitude and prosocial behavior toward third persons. After evoking gratitude by recalling past experiences (Study 1) or writing a letter to someone (Study 2), participants were asked to make a donation from their remuneration for the experiment to a charity organization. As predicted, emotional manipulation promoted donation via feelings of gratitude and satisfied NFR. Implications of the current model for integrating previous findings are discussed.

Improving medical decision making through culture-sensitive health communication – An agenda for science and practice

This review introduces the concept of culture-sensitive health communication. The basic premise is that congruency between the recipient’s cultural characteristics and the respective message will increase the communication’s effectiveness. Culture-sensitive health communication is therefore defined as the deliberate and evidence-informed adaptation of health communication to the recipients’ cultural background in order to increase knowledge and improve decision preparedness in medical decision making, and to enhance the persuasiveness of messages in health promotion. To achieve effective health communication in varying cultural contexts, an empirically and theoretically based understanding of culture will be indispensable. We therefore define culture, discuss which evolutionary and structural factors contribute to the development of cultural diversity, and how differences are conceptualized as scientific constructs in current models of cultural differences. Additionally, we will explicate the implications of cultural differences for psychological theorizing, because common constructs of health behavior theories and decision making, such as attitudes or risk perception, are subject to cultural variation. In terms of communication we will review both communication strategies as well as channels that are used to disseminate health messages, and discuss the implications of cultural differences for their effectiveness. Finally, we propose both an agenda for science as well as for practice to advance and apply the evidence base for culture-sensitive health communication. This calls for more interdisciplinary research: between science and practice, but also between scientific disciplines and between basic and applied research.This review introduces the concept of culture-sensitive health communication. The basic premise is that congruency between the recipient’s cultural characteristics and the respective message will increase the communication’s effectiveness. Culture-sensitive health communication is therefore defined as the deliberate and evidence-informed adaptation of health communication to the recipients’ cultural background in order to increase knowledge and improve preparation for medical decision making and to enhance the persuasiveness of messages in health promotion. To achieve effective health communication in varying cultural contexts, an empirically and theoretically based understanding of culture will be indispensable. We therefore define culture, discuss which evolutionary and structural factors contribute to the development of cultural diversity, and examine how differences are conceptualized as scientific constructs in current models of cultural differences. In addition, we will explicate the implications of cultural differences for psychological theorizing, because common constructs of health behavior theories and decision making, such as attitudes or risk perception, are subject to cultural variation. In terms of communication, we will review both communication strategies and channels that are used to disseminate health messages, and we will discuss the implications of cultural differences for their effectiveness. Finally, we propose an agenda both for science and for practice to advance and apply the evidence base for culture-sensitive health communication. This calls for more interdisciplinary research between science and practice but also between scientific disciplines and between basic and applied research.

Improving Medical Decision Making and Health Promotion through Culture-Sensitive Health Communication

This review introduces the concept of culture-sensitive health communication. The basic premise is that congruency between the recipient’s cultural characteristics and the respective message will increase the communication’s effectiveness. Culture-sensitive health communication is therefore defined as the deliberate and evidence-informed adaptation of health communication to the recipients’ cultural background in order to increase knowledge and improve decision preparedness in medical decision making, and to enhance the persuasiveness of messages in health promotion. To achieve effective health communication in varying cultural contexts, an empirically and theoretically based understanding of culture will be indispensable. We therefore define culture, discuss which evolutionary and structural factors contribute to the development of cultural diversity, and how differences are conceptualized as scientific constructs in current models of cultural differences. Additionally, we will explicate the implications of cultural differences for psychological theorizing, because common constructs of health behavior theories and decision making, such as attitudes or risk perception, are subject to cultural variation. In terms of communication we will review both communication strategies as well as channels that are used to disseminate health messages, and discuss the implications of cultural differences for their effectiveness. Finally, we propose both an agenda for science as well as for practice to advance and apply the evidence base for culture-sensitive health communication. This calls for more interdisciplinary research: between science and practice, but also between scientific disciplines and between basic and applied research.This review introduces the concept of culture-sensitive health communication. The basic premise is that congruency between the recipient’s cultural characteristics and the respective message will increase the communication’s effectiveness. Culture-sensitive health communication is therefore defined as the deliberate and evidence-informed adaptation of health communication to the recipients’ cultural background in order to increase knowledge and improve preparation for medical decision making and to enhance the persuasiveness of messages in health promotion. To achieve effective health communication in varying cultural contexts, an empirically and theoretically based understanding of culture will be indispensable. We therefore define culture, discuss which evolutionary and structural factors contribute to the development of cultural diversity, and examine how differences are conceptualized as scientific constructs in current models of cultural differences. In addition, we will explicate the implications of cultural differences for psychological theorizing, because common constructs of health behavior theories and decision making, such as attitudes or risk perception, are subject to cultural variation. In terms of communication, we will review both communication strategies and channels that are used to disseminate health messages, and we will discuss the implications of cultural differences for their effectiveness. Finally, we propose an agenda both for science and for practice to advance and apply the evidence base for culture-sensitive health communication. This calls for more interdisciplinary research between science and practice but also between scientific disciplines and between basic and applied research.